Igniting passion

Every new year I enter with a word that I’ve received from God. I will give you some examples. In 2011 just before the new year I had a dream, in the dream I was pulling a book off of a book shelf, the cover was a beautiful drawing of a solemn brown faced young girl I’ve never seen before. Her piercing eyes spoke chapters of heartbreak yet resilience, then in the dream I heard a word spoken over me and the word was “restoration”. On Jan 1st, 2012 as I wandered through my churches bookstore after their new years day service looking for a devotional and a journal to start my year with, I came face to face with a face quite similar to my own, the face of my biological father, as well as my grandmother (whose birthday would have been today) and a sister and a brother and a cousin that I had never met before or even knew existed. I was in my mid 20s at the time and I had never met my biological father or his side of the family, and here we were on the 1st day of the brand new year accidentally running into each other at church, and then I was reminded of the word that had been spoken to me in my dream, “restoration”. The longer version of that story is one for another day and time but I say that to say in 2019, I went in with a word, and it was “renewed”, by the end of the year I was not quite sure how that word had come to pass but the truth is in 2019 as I was pregnant with my 1st child I was being renewed by the transforming of my mind. 2019 is the year that my health and wellness journey truly started because it was the year that I became aware of everything for the sake of my child, my environment, my emotions, my activity level, my rest, the food I was consuming, because now it not only affected me but it affected my daughter. In 2020 the word that I went into the new year with was “transformation”, and it truly was a year of transformation, I lost over 100 lbs naturally after God laid out a plan for me to follow during a 14 day liquid fast, and God truly did something not just in my body but in my mind and my soul. In 2021 the word of the year was “glorification”, and it was definitely a year to glorify God. Opportunities were presented to me to be in People magazine, and on Good Morning America, in Women’s Health Magazine and other opportunities where I had the chance to testify about what God had done in my life. In 2022 the words were “rest, refresh” I was pregnant half of the year with my 2nd child, and it was truly a year to just rest in the goodness of God and all that he had done for me.

In 2023, the words that came to me were “authenticity and impact”. It was a year where my faith was tested, where I asked God doubt filled questions I had been afraid to ask him before, and where I told him what was really on my mind, not that he didn’t know, but I had to say them aloud so that I could hear myself being honest. I needed to know that God could handle my honesty, and I needed to know that he could truly speak to the waves of doubt crashing in my mind and calm the storm. Through that, my doubt was replaced with a faith stronger than anything I’ve experienced with him thus far, and my anxiety was replaced with a tangible peace. I was no longer lukewarm, double minded, I finally knew where I stood in a lot of areas and was willing to share that stance with others boldly. The 2nd word I was given, “impact” came towards the very end of 2023 when I was featured in Women’s health magazine for the 2nd time and the Tamron Hall Show reached out to have me as a guest, both opportunities caught me completely off guard especially because I had been going out of my way to not be “seen” to not be “heard”. I had been running from something that I felt God had been calling me to for a while, but these events had such an impact on me because it reminded me that God is in complete control, we might as well surrender and not resist. He has us in the very palm of his hand, it benefits us to trust how he wants to mold us and shape us, it benefits us to trust where he wants to take us, because either way, we are going, because God is sovereign.

This year there are two words God gave me as I entered the new year I will keep my first word sacred for now. However I will share the 2nd word, and it was “passion”. I was actually hesitant to believe that he had truly given me the word passion, the first word made sense to me, but not the 2nd because it’s a word that I have not felt about many things in my life, outside of God, my husband, taking care of my children, and my health and wellness journey. When I was younger I had a passion for writing, but that became lost with the increasing responsibilities of life. What else could God have for me to be passionate about? Passion is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as “intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction, a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object or concept. I’m curious to see what passion God will ignite in me this year, what passion he may ignite in all of us because I believe that it’s passion that is going to drive out fear, insecurity, doubt, sadness, hopelessness and it’s what is going to wake us up each day yearning to see all the ways God is going to speak to us, and speak through us. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what I am doing with this blog or why, but I’m just going to be obedient and start it. I may share lessons that God is constantly showing me through my husband and children. I may give health and wellness tips, I may offer spiritual encouragement, I’m not sure, but God is, he will give me the words to say when they need to be said, and it will impact who its supposed to. Thanks for being brave enough to venture on this journey into the unknown with me.

Remember, you are Beyond Capable,

Sincerely,

Bri